Tesser Awarded Honors for Restaurant Industry Work

February 2001

San Francisco and Boulder, Colo., (Feb. 12, 2001) - Tesser, an integrated online development and brand services firm with offices in Boulder and San Francisco, recently was awarded top honors by Bookbuilders West and Nation's Restaurant News for its restaurant industry branding work for the Chevys and Rio Bravo restaurant chains.

"These awards illustrate Tesser's continued leadership in the restaurant industry with its innovative and strategic approach to building great brands," said Tre Musco, CEO of Tesser. "Our team's multi-disciplinary talent is not only bringing Tesser critical acclaim, but more importantly, significant consumer recognition and revenue growth for our clients' brands."

Bookbuilders West honored Tesser at its 30th annual Book Show and banquet for achieving excellence in the design, composition and manufacturing of Chevys Fresh Mex Cookbook. This promotional book includes 132 pages featuring a mix of original Mexican recipes and festive party tips.

The Bookbuilders West Book Show is one of the largest and most prestigious events of its kind in the country. Since 1970, Bookbuilders West has presented awards for outstanding book design, production and manufacturing. Award-winning books are displayed as part of its Traveling Book Show throughout the United States. Tesser's recipe book also will be showcased in the Bookbuilders West annual awards catalog.

Nation's Restaurant News also honored Tesser at its 2000 Eat & Ear Awards. These awards are presented annually at Nation's Restaurant News Multi-Unit Foodservice Operations (MUFSO) conference. Tesser's "Fresh Mex Hits Atlanta" billboard campaign for Rio Bravo was recognized for excellence in outdoor advertising.

About Tesser

Tesser is an award-winning integrated brand services firm with offices in Boulder and San Francisco. Founded in
1993, Tesser combines comprehensive offline brand services with Internet strategy and implementation to serve both established and emerging companies. Tesser's clients include Agilent, Chevys Restaurants, Black Pearls, Bell Sports, Kelty, netIdentity, Quiznos, FrogMagic, Freeskier Magazine, Gap Inc., Holme Roberts & Owen, Denver Health and Hospital Authority, Mshow, Denver Art Museum and Denver Museum of Nature and Science. For more information, please visit www.tesser.com or call 800-310-4400.

About Tesser

Since 1993, Tesser has been building powerful brands by focusing on the big picture: 360 degrees of uncompromised thinking on branding and integrated design. As strategic consultants, designers, and branding experts, Tesser helps clients create both long-term brand value and highly effective design programs. Tesser provides a unique mix of strategy, naming and verbal branding, corporate identity, retail design, merchandising, packaging design, and web site design.

Based in San Francisco, Tesser's clients include Quiznos Sub, Musco Family Olive Company, Clorox, Chevys Restaurants, Noah's Bagels, Dairy Queen, Rubio's Fresh Mexican Grill, Figaro's Pizza, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), Harkins Theatres, Rock Bottom Restaurants, Pat and Oscar's Restaurants, Gap, Gymboree, and Fox Shox.